DEALS

Pasco school meals may cost more

Children enjoy lunch at Connerton Elementary School Thursday, May 15, 2014 in Land O' Lakes. A proposal that goes before the school board Tuesday may raise the costs of breakfasts by 10 cents and lunches by 15 cents for students. CHRIS URSO/STAFF

LAND O’ LAKES — Students in Pasco County schools could be paying more for cafeteria meals in the coming school year.

A proposal that goes before the school board Tuesday would raise the price of student breakfasts by 10 cents, while lunches would go up 15 cents for elementary schools and 10 cents for high schools. Teachers and other adults who eat cafeteria meals also would see a price hike for 2014-15.

The prices for students in the federal reduced-price meal program would not change.

A memorandum included in the school board’s agenda said the price increase, the first in five years, is necessary to keep up with food costs that have gone up 23 percent over those same five years. Some of the increase in food costs is because of federal regulations aimed at improving the nutritional quality of meals.

“Currently, our district is not charging students who pay full price enough to cover the cost of meal production,” the memo said.

The school district’s Food and Nutrition Services department is self-supporting and does not use money from the school district’s operational budget.

Under the proposal, breakfasts at elementary schools would increase from $1.25 to $1.35 and lunches would increase from $2 to $2.15.

High school breakfasts, now $1.40, would increase to $1.50. High school lunches now range in price from $2.50 to $3. The lower price in that range would increase to $2.60, but the high range would remain at $3.

Adult breakfasts would increase to $1.75, up from $1.60. Adult lunches would jump to $3.75, up from $3.50.

Tom Jackson

Tom Jackson’s baseball card — if he had one — would report he throws left, writes right. In his columns and blog, “The Right Stuff,” southpaw Jackson provides insight into the evolving human condition from a distinctly conservative point of view.Column | Blog